Adding Bill Conti's Music Saved The Ending Of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky
There are some movies whose legacy you can't speak on without also mentioning the composers that gave them their signature sound. John Williams is just as vital to "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" as Steven Spielberg is. What would "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" even feel like without the great Ennio Morricone? In the same vein, while "Rocky," the underdog sports drama turned Best Picture winner, may be Sylvester Stallone's baby, it's impossible to imagine the triumphant highs landing as hard as they do without Bill Conti.
Conti made a career of providing the sound for "The Right Stuff," "The Karate Kid" trilogy, and all of the "Rocky" movies, barring "Rocky IV." The series had associated itself with plenty of musical talent throughout the decades, but there's something about Conti's presence, especially in that first film, that feels utterly timeless. The "Rocky" theme, otherwise known as "Gonna Fly Now," transforms this down-on-his-luck southpaw boxer into a superhero. If Conti could earn individual stipends from the number of folks who have worked out to this track, his net worth would be astronomical.
Coming right behind it is the "Going the Distance" track, as it comes in during Rocky's final stand in the ring. This is for all the marbles. It's an exhilarating piece of music perfectly suited for a climax where the stakes are high. As it would happen, the final crescendo of this long journey is "The Final Bell," which supposedly saved the film.
Conti's score provided the perfect emotional capper
In a 2016 oral history for Philadelphia Magazine, director John G. Avildsen talked about how the ending to "Rocky" initially saw Apollo Creed, Rocky, and Adrian swept away by the crowd. The crew, however, couldn't logistically make it happen. Avildsen also had another idea in mind involving Rocky and Adrian walking away while holding hands, but as he describes it, it didn't fit the mood. "It felt like we had this couple going to a funeral," said Avildsen. But once he heard Bill Conti's "The Final Bell" kick in, Avildsen knew this was going to be the lynchpin that solidifies the film's legacy:
"Bill Conti comes in with the last music cue that saved it. And so we have Adrian fighting her way through the crowd, we see Rocky like a wounded elephant with that great music, and without that ending, I don't think we'd be talking about 'Rocky' today."
It's the kind of ending that inspires you to go out and secure your own win in the face of overwhelming odds. We've seen Rocky win a number of times, but there's something so special about how "The Final Bell" accentuates what the 1976 film is really about. Everyone else in the arena is enveloped by the results of the match, while Rocky and Adrian are more concerned with having that embrace in the ring. Conti's music signals the triumph of a warrior who didn't win the match, but the heart of the person who came to love him, and that hug is just as beautiful now as it ever was.
"Rocky" is currently streaming on Paramount+ and Netflix.